This year, Kazakhstan’s reservoirs collected a record volume of water – more than 75 billion cubic meters. Of this, more than 12 billion cubic meters was flood water. Proper distribution of flood water allowed not only to fill reservoirs, but also to direct water to rivers and lakes that faced drying up in recent years, estuaries, natural pastures and other objects, the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan reports.

Thus, since the beginning of the year, 15.4 billion cubic meters of water have flowed into Lake Balkhash, which is 4 billion cubic meters more than a year earlier. Of these, 3.3 billion cubic meters were received during floods. The Caspian Sea has received 17 billion cubic meters of water since the beginning of the year. For the first time in 10 years, the Kapchagai reservoir in Almaty region was filled to 100%, collecting more than 18 billion cubic meters of water.

During the flood, 80 million cubic meters of water was directed to the Kamysh-Samar lakes in West Kazakhstan Oblast. From the Ұlytau region, 839 million cubic meters of water was directed to the Kyzylorda region. Thanks to this, for the first time in the history of observations, this water reached the lake systems of Kyzylorda region through the Sarysu River.

In the south of the country, as the Ministry notes, thanks to water diplomacy, clear water distribution and introduction of water-saving technologies, it was also possible to improve the water balance.

For example, about 2.5 billion cubic meters of water have been directed to the Northern Aral Sea this year, which is more than 400 million cubic meters more than in 2023. At the same time, the application of water-saving technologies allowed the agrarians of Kyzylorda province to save 200 million cubic meters of water, which were also directed to the Northern Aral Sea.

In total, since the beginning of the year, more than 4.7 billion cubic meters of water have been directed to the lake systems of Kyzylorda region. For comparison, last year this figure was about 4.3 billion cubic meters.

“In the distribution of water resources we always look for the right balance between the needs of the economy and the maintenance of ecosystems of water bodies. This year a lot of work has been done to preserve and restore large and small water bodies without harming agrarians and other water users. For example, about 11 billion cubic meters of water were supplied to the country’s farms during the past irrigation period. In the future, work in this direction will be improved. Including through the creation of a new regulatory framework that prioritizes competent management and consumption of water,” said the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurzhan Nurzhigitov.